Raising-supporting-aligning jig for tubular wall construction



April 14, 1964 RAISING-S w. c. NORRIS ETAL 3,128,736

UPPQRTING-ALIGNING JIG FOR TUBULAR WALL CONSTRUCTION Original Filed Sept. 14, 1954 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTORS: N/ll/AM CNOPR/S h/fllDEM/IR RUP/NSK/ KONAAD S. SVE/VDSE/V way.

ATTORNEY United States Patent Ofifice 3,128,736 Patented Apr. 14, 1964 3,128,736 RAEiNG-SUPPORTING-ALIGNENG HG FUR TUBULAR WALL CONSTRUCTION William C. Norris, Bellmore, N.Y., Waldemar Rupinslri,

Haworth, N.J., and Konrad S. Svendsen, Bellerose, N.Y., assignors to Combustion Engineering, Inc., New York, N.Y., a corporation of Delaware Original application Sept. 14, 1954, Ser. No. 455,912, new Patent No. 2,946,116, dated July 29, 1960. Divided and this application Feb. 16, 1960, Ser. No. 9,074

Claims. (Cl. 113-102) This invention relates to improved means and method of constructing tubular walls and particularly walls of tall furnaces which are faced with fluid cooled tubes.

The subject matter hereof has been divided from copending parent US. application Serial No. 455,912, filed September 14, 1954 in the names of William C. Norris, Waldemar Rupinski and Konrad S. Svendsen, under title of Tubular Wall Construction, now Patent No. 2,946,116.

The invention relates more specifically to an apparatus for positioning in abutting relation the tube ends of tubular wall sections for the purpose of joining these ends by welding.

The furnace walls of large steam generators are commonly lined with steam generating tubes which are connected into the Water circuits of the generator. The furnace height which in large boilers may exceed one hundred feet is in most cases made up of several tube lengths. This requires the field welding of a multiplicity of tubes end to end to form continuous conduits extending from the bottom to the top of the furnace wall. A great number of such conduits arranged in parallel rows cover the furnace walls and are connected to bottom and top headers or drums for parallel flow of fluid therethrough.

Heretofore such a tubular wall was completely erected in the field, each tube length of a circuit being separately raised and held in place while adjoining tube length, ends were aligned and welded, together. When using the above-mentioned conventional method of constructing tall tubular walls composed of relatively small diameter tubes arranged in substantial side by side contact, the cost involved for erecting such walls became so high as to be uneconomical.

It is accordingly a primary'object of the invention to provide in connection with the novel and improved method of constructing a tubular wall of the type mentioned above, as disclosed in the above parent application, an apparatus or jig for welding in union the ends of tubes forming group components of such a wall, whereby the cost of constructing these walls is substantially reduced.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a novel and superior apparatus and method for supporting and aligning adjacent tube ends while welding them together thereby facilitating and increasing the quality of workmanship to a considerable extent.

Additional objects and advantages will become apparent from the following description of illustrative embodiments of the invention when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a sectional elevation of a typical steam gen erator furnace having fluid cooled tubular furnace walls.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged front elevation of a typical section of the tubular furnace walls of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a side elevation of the wall section of FIG. 2 and taken on line 3-3 of FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a side elevation of two tube groups or panels arranged end to end and with their ends sprung apart prior to welding by means of our improved apparatus.

FIG. 5 is a cross section taken on line 55 of FIG. 4

showing the tubes separated in the position ready for welding.

FIG. 6 is a cross section similar to FIG. 5 but showing the position of the tubes and that of the improved apparatus before the tubes are sprung apart for welding or after they have returned to their natural position after welding.

in FIG. 1 there is diagrammatically illustrated a water cooled furnace 10 of a large steam generating unit. Such furnace is generally of rectangular cross section and as pointed out above may reach an overall height of more than feet. The furnace 10 comprises four walls, two side walls 12a, a front wall 121) and a rear wall 120. These walls are lined with tubes 14a, 14b and 14c respectively. The ends of these tubes 14a are connected to lower headers 16 and upper header 18. The ends of tubes 14b and are connected to lower drums 20 and upper header 22. Upper headers 18 and 22 in turn communicate with steam and water drum 24 by way of tubes 26 and 27 respectively, and lower headers 16 are connected to drums 20 by tubes 28. There is provided a steam and water drum 24 which communicates with drums 20 by way of pipes 30 thereby establishing a number of water circulation circuits throughout the furnace walls 12a, 12b and 120.

Fuel and air which is introduced into furnace 10 by burners 32, burns within the furnace, liberating heat and generating steam in tubes 14a, 14b and 140. The steam rises and is collected in drum 24 from where it is withdrawn at 33 for further heating and use. The steam is replaced by feed water entering drum 24 at 34.

According to our improved method the tubular water cooled lining of each wall of furnace 10 is subdivided into numerous wall sections or tube panels. For example side wall12a is subdivided into three tiers of panels 36a, 36b and 360.

In FIG. 2 these panels are shown in enlarged scale and are typical of the construction proposed by our invention and applicable to all four walls of furnace 10.

Thus this typical wall here designated 12 comprises top and bottom headers 18 and 16 respectively interconnected by a bank of parallel tubes 14 having substantial side by side contact, lying in a common plane, and facing the interior of the wall structure 12. The wall structure 12 may include any well known refractory-insulation-casing construction on the exterior of tubes 14 (not shown). Because of the distance between headers 16 and 18 which exceeds that of a tube length suitable for shipping, two or more tube lengths 14 are welded end to end at 38 to form a continuous conduit between headers 16 and 18, and this welding is done in the field. As mentioned above, such a tubular wall was heretofore completely erected in the 'field, each tube of each circuit between headers being separately raised and held in place while adjoining tube ends were aligned and welded together. This method is very slow and costly.

According to our improved construction similar groups of tubes 14 such as groups 36a, 36b and 36c shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 are separately assembled in the shop. Each group contains a multiplicity of tube lengths 14 in parallel as illustrated in FIG. 2. All lie in a common place having a width and length suitable for handling in transport and erection in the field. For example the width of such a group may be about four feet and the length about forty feet. All tube lengths 14 of a group are usually of the same length and their end surfaces 40 and 42 are in alignment generally at right angles to their axes. Such end alignment of the tubes 14 in a group is provided in the shop by fastening them together adjacent their mid lengths, as by welding as shown at 44 0 (FIG. 1

Turning now to FIG. 3 the ends 42a and 40a of alposition in the furnace wall.

'tube ends.

each other. beam 68 has lugs 70 fastened thereto which preferably are staggered with respect tubes of groups 36a and 36b by ternate tubes 14- of groups 36a, 36c adjacent the headers 18 and 16, respectively, are offset with respect to the remaining tube ends. Preferably the headers contain welded-in nipples 52 which register alignment with the ends of the tubes 14 and are welded thereto in the field. This is indicated at 38a in FIGS. 2 and 3.

In the field neighboring groups of tubes or panels are prepared for the hoisting of these panels to the desired position in the respective furnace wall. These preparations include the attaching in the proper location on the tube panel of our herein disclosed raising-supportingaligning jig, the function and design of which will now be considered in detail.

As pointed out earlier in this discussion, tube panels, such as 36a, 36b and 360 for example, in their final position as component parts of a furnace wall, are arranged with their ends 40 and 42 adjoining and their axes in alignment thereby bringing all the tubes of both groups into a common plane for forming continuous conduits from the bottom header 16 to the top header 18.

Because the tubes are in substantial longitudinal contact, the adjoining ends (see FIG. 4) of alternate aligned tubes of the groups 36a and 3617 respectively must be offset from the remaining tubes, or sprung apart to provide access to the ends for welding them together. Preferably the alternate tube ends 4%, 42b are offset to one side of the common place of the wall and the remaining tube ends 40, 42 are offset to the other side of said plane.

In FIGS. 4, 5 and 6, one form of means is disclosed to accomplish the offsetting of the tube ends according to this invention before they are hoisted to the assigned There are shown two jigs 64 and 66, jig 64 being mounted on tube group 36a and jig 66 being mounted on tube group 36b adjacent the Bach jig comprises two channel beams 68 placed on opposite sides of the tubes 14 and opposite Referring now to FIG. 6 each channel are spaced longitudinally of the channel on centers equal to about twice the spacing of the centers of tubes 14 and which extend outwardly from the channel toward the tubes for a distance about equal to the diameter of the tubes and terminate in fiat faces 72 which bear against the tube surface. The lugs 70 on one channel beam 68 to the lugs 70 on the opposite channel and when the channels are moved toward each other, the lugs force alternate tubes against the opposite channel, thereby deflecting the tubes so that the center lines of the end portions of the tubes lie in planes parallel to the common plane of the tube wall, as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5.

The two jigs 64 and 66 being of the same size and acting in the same manner will offset the ends of the the same amount. Holding lugs 74 (see FIG. 4) are welded onto selected tubes 14 to provide stops for jigs 64 and 66. Each jig is provided with bolts 80 and 82 for forcing the channel beams together. Each bolt forms an angle of about 45 with the longitudinal axis of the channels and is provided with nuts at each end which bear against angles 83 secured to the inside of channel 68 by welding. However, the angle of bolt 80 is opposite to that of bolt 82 so that when the bolts are uniformly pulled up any relative longitudinal movement of the channels may be avoided. The angular position of the bolts permits the bolts to pass between the tubes when these are offset. Although only one pair of bolts 80 and 82 are shown in FIGS. 5 and 6 several pairs of bolts are employed on panels of greater width and accommodating a larger number of tubes.

Additional members 75 are attached such as by welding to the channels 68 on one side of jigs 64 and 66 by which the entire assembly of the jigs and the tube group is lifted to their appointed place on the wall with tube ends 40 and 42 adjoining. Channel beams 68 are also provided with pipe sections 76 through which bolts 78 are passed from jig 64 to jig 66 to align and space them after the tube panels 36:: and 36b have been raised to their respective positions as components of the furnace wall. Having thus aligned the corresponding tube ends 40 and 42, 40b and 42b the tubes are then welded together at 38, two men working on each tube on opposite sides.

After the welding of all tubes is completed jigs 64 and 66 are removed and tubes 14 allowed to spring back and to assume their original position in the plane of the wall. Lugs 74 of course are also removed as well as strong backs 46. Under certain conditions it may be found desirable to remove the strong backs before the tube panels are raised in welding position and rely entirely on weld 44 to keep the central portion of the tubes of the panel aligned and united.

Our invention accordingly as hereinabove set forth, provides for a simple and advantageous method of constructing the walls of tall furnace chambers lined with closely spaced parallel tubes. The invention thus permits the realization of outstanding savings in man hours in the erection stage of tubular furnace walls consisting of prefabricated tube panels through the additional use of our novel-raising-supporting-aligning jig.

While we have here shown in connection with a novel and superior method of constructing tubular walls an improved apparatus for practicing said method it will be understood that changes in construction combination and arrangement of parts of the apparatus may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as claimed.

We claim:

1. A jig assembly adapted to be used for positioning and holding two groups of tubes to be welded whereby one group is arranged in end-to-end alignment with the other, each group comprising a multiplicity of at least four closely adjacent tubes lying in a plane and fastened together in alignment at a point remote from their ends, said jig assembly comprising a first jig laterally mounted on said one group of tubes adjacent one end thereof, a second jig mounted on said other group of tubes adjacent one end thereof and in axially spaced relation with said first jig, both said first and said second jig having a pair of lateral members parallelly positioned on opposite sides of said tubes, said members having a length extending over said multiplicity of closely adjacent tubes, and being provided with protuberances facing said tubes and, said protuberances having a width being at most equal to the clearance between alternate tubes, the protuberances of one side being staggered with respect to the protuberances of the other side of said tubes, said members being so positioned on opposite sides of said tubes such that said protuberances engage the outer surface of alternate tubes, means associated with each pair of said members to force said members of each pair toward each other in directions lateral to the tube axes whereby alternate tubes are offset with respect to the remaining tubes, and means associated with said two groups of tubes and said first and second jigs to align and hold in position the tube ends of one group and the corresponding tube ends of the other group for welding the tube ends of one group to the tube ends of the other group.

2. A jig assembly adapted to be used for positioning and holding two groups of tubes to be welded whereby one group is arranged in end-to-end alignment with the other, each group comprising a plurality of at least four closely adjacent tubes lying in a plane and fastened together remote from their ends and with their ends in alignment, said jig assembly comprising a first jig mounted on said one group of tubes adjacent one end thereof, a second jig mounted on said other group of tubes adjacent one end thereof and in axially spaced relation with said first jig, both said first and said second jig comprising a pair of beams laterally positioned on opposite sides of said tubes, each beam having a length suificient to engage said plurality of tubes and having lugs extending toward said tubes and spaced on centers longitudinal of the beams, said lugs being of a Width transversely of said tubes that is at most equal to the distance between alternate tubes, the lugs on one side of the tubes being staggered with respect to the lugs on the other side, said beams being so positioned on opposite sides of said tubes such that said lugs engage the outer surface of alternate tubes, means associated with said beams to force said beams toward each other in directions lateral to the tube axes whereby alternate tubes are ofiset with respect to the remaining tubes, and members associated with said adjacent tube groups and said first and second jigs to align said end-to-end positioned tube ends and hold them in position for joining by Welding.

3. The combination as defined in claim 2 wherein the means associated with said beams comprise bolts passing through opposite beams and between the offset tubes at an angle to the beams with selected bolts sloping at opposite angles.

4. The combination as defined in claim 2 wherein said members comprise pipes aligned parallel to said tubes and fastened to the beams of adjacent jigs on the adjacent ends of the two tube groups and hanger bolts passing through said pipes.

5. The combination as defined in claim 4 wherein the means associated with said beams comprise bolts passing through opposite beams and between the olfset tubes at an angle of about 45 to the beams, with selected bolts sloping at opposite angles.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,176,604 Benkelman Oct. 17, 1939 2,381,584 Fulleton Aug. 7, 1945 2,433,172 Tipton Dec. 23, 1947 2,638,676 Callahan May 19, 1953 

1. A JIG ASSEMBLY ADAPTED TO BE USED FOR POSITIONING AND HOLDING TWO GROUPS OF TUBES TO BE WELDED WHEREBY ONE GROUP IS ARRANGED IN END-TO-END ALIGNMENT WITH THE OTHER, EACH GROUP COMPRISING A MULTIPLICITY OF AT LEAST FOUR CLOSELY ADJACENT TUBES LYING IN A PLANE AND FASTENED TOGETHER IN ALIGNMENT AT A POINT REMOTE FROM THEIR ENDS, SAID JIG ASSEMBLY COMPRISING A FIRST JIG LATERALLY MOUNTED ON SAID ONE GROUP OF TUBES ADJACENT ONE END THEREOF, A SECOND JIG MOUNTED ON SAID OTHER GROUP OF TUBES ADJACENT ONE END THEREOF AND IN AXIALLY SPACED RELATION WITH SAID FIRST JIG, BOTH SAID FIRST AND SAID SECOND JIG HAVING A PAIR OF LATERAL MEMBERS PARALLELLY POSITIONED ON OPPOSITE SIDES OF SAID TUBES, SAID MEMBERS HAVING A LENGTH EXTENDING OVER SAID MULTIPLICITY OF CLOSELY ADJACENT TUBES, AND BEING PROVIDED WITH PROTUBERANCES FACING SAID TUBES AND, SAID PROTUBERANCES HAVING A WIDTH BEING AT MOST EQUAL TO THE CLEARANCE BETWEEN ALTERNATE TUBES, THE PROTUBERANCES OF ONE SIDE BEING STAGGERED WITH RESPECT TO THE PROTUBERANCES OF THE OTHER SIDE OF SAID TUBES, SAID MEMBERS BEING SO POSITIONED ON OPPOSITE SIDES OF SAID TUBES SUCH THAT SAID PROTUBERANCES ENGAGE THE OUTER SURFACE OF ALTERNATE TUBES, MEANS ASSOCIATED WITH EACH PAIR OF SAID MEMBERS TO FORCE SAID MEMBERS OF EACH PAIR TOWARD EACH OTHER IN DIRECTIONS LATERAL TO THE TUBE AXES WHEREBY ALTERNATE TUBES ARE OFFSET WITH RESPECT TO THE REMAINING TUBES, AND MEANS ASSOCIATED WITH SAID TWO GROUPS OF TUBES AND SAID FIRST AND SECOND JIGS TO ALIGN AND HOLD IN POSITION THE TUBE ENDS OF ONE GROUP AND THE CORRESPONDING TUBE ENDS OF THE OTHER GROUP FOR WELDING THE TUBE ENDS OF ONE GROUP TO THE TUBE ENDS OF THE OTHER GROUP. 